


It’s In My Bones

by magnusman



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Addiction, Angst, F/M, M/M, Modern Day, Mutant Politics, Pain Medication, emma has dogs, honestly erik is just house, lawyer attorney, little rich dogs, raven is erik's sister, reporter emma, scottish charles, wheelchair bound erik, with powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24012757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnusman/pseuds/magnusman
Summary: Erik M. Lehnsherr was once one of the most successful attorneys for mutant cases, earning him high status amongst many mutant activists fighting for equal rights among the species divide. But with all triumph, there is conquest. Sebastian Shaw, leader of a radical group of mutant protesters labelled the “X-Tremists,” wanted change far too soon, and was willing to harm to get it. On June 14th, 2017, Erik Lehnsherr was attacked on live television by Shaw, rendering him unable to walk and forced into a wheelchair.After the incident, Erik retreated, only accompanied by one Emma Frost, a reporter and colleague of Lehnsherr’s, into a lush but secluded mansion away from harm.Now, Erik is not even a shadow of the man he once was, and only continues downward.Will he ever be able to return to the life he left behind?
Relationships: Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsherr
Comments: 29
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

Erik tossed and turned in bed, as best he could anyway. Angry, painful groans and curses escaped his throat, as a girl cried in the corner of his room.

It was Emma who was awoken to one of the maids, she was asking for her help, something about “Angel,” “care,” and “screaming.”

She groaned, as the familiar piercing of retched thoughts were shoved violently into her skull before she guarded herself. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the silence overtook her, before she started pacing over to Erik’s room.

She didn’t bother to knock, she knew it wasn’t locked, nothing in this house was allowed to be locked, save for the main doors and some of the bathrooms, and even then, those were two-sided.

“What the hell?” She muttered angrily, taking in the scene before her.

She strode over to Erik, who was gripping and tossing around in bed, a desperate hand stumbled across the nightstand, almost knocking over the lamp that sat upon it.

“God damnit Erik...” Emma whispered, before the girl spoke up.

“I-I’m so sorry, mistress. I didn’t mean—“

“It’s okay sweetheart, just go find one of the maids and send her this way for the mess. go on.” Emma plastered on a calm voice for the girl, who nodded and ran off to do as she was told.

A tray with spilt breakfast and broken glass was on the other side of Erik’s bed.

Of course the girl brought him breakfast, that’s what she thought to do, and of course the help wouldn’t have said anything to her.

Emma rolled her eyes and went to the closet in the room, opening it and digging into the first jacket she saw. She pulled out an orange prescription bottle, half full of pain medication.

She uncapped the bottle and got out two pills, returning to Erik and shaking the bottle close to his face.

His eyes shot open and he grabbed desperately for the bottle, only for it to be jerked away from him. Another curse flew from his mouth, but Emma was rightly unfazed.

“Two, Erik. and you scared that girl half to death.” She spoke with reserve, like this was such a common occurrence for her.

Erik grabbed the pills from Emma’s hand, he was like a ravaged dog, scarfing down the medication before covering his face with his hands.

“Did you even hear me? You scared your help, Erik.” Emma repeated, her voice laced with malice towards the man.

“She scared me, who the hell told her to bring anything in here?” Erik fought back, groaning into his hands as he started chewing on his fingers, to which emma promptly smacked him.

“Get up, I expect you to apologise to her.”

Erik muttered under his breath, and Emma held in her desire to smack him right across his face.

“Just do it Erik, you’ll get more if you do.” She bribed as she left the room, rattling the bottle still in her hand.

Erik grumbled more, as he threw off the covers and moved the wheelchair in the corner of the room over to him, dragging himself off the bed and into the chair. He wheeled over to his closet, half opened, and rummaged through the pockets of one of his jackets.

“Bitch.” He muttered, before smirking to himself as he reached for one of his shoes on a rack just inside the closet door, pulling out another bottle.

He popped three more pills into his mouth, before he shoved the bottle into the pocket of his robe, and started moving out to the hall.

The apology was self-centred and antagonistic, which forced Emma to tell the girl that she was sorry as she left, handing her the check she earned for getting the job, or technically, losing it.

There was a compensation fee towards any hired caretaker of Erik’s; a thousand down if the job doesn’t work out within the first week. Most didn’t even last a few days.

As soon as she was out the door, Erik held out his hand expectantly, awaiting the pills Emma had promised him.

“You slimy bastard. I meant a good apology.” Emma snapped, as she went into the dining room, with Erik hot on her heels.

“I wouldn’t have to apologise at all if you could hire someone with competence.” Erik retorted, which made Emma spin around to face him.

“Erik, no one wants to take care of a wheelchair bound man addicted to pain pills. And no one wants to work for a man who’s going to constantly berate them every chance he gets!” Emma yelled, fury in her voice.

“If they actually knew what they were doing, I wouldn’t have to berate them. I thought that that’s what you’re here for, to show them what to do!” Erik fired back, and Emma scoffed at the audacity of him.

“Erik, the only ones who ever respond to that damned ad are kids looking for money, or mutants who know your name—“

“Then make a better ad!”

Emma did finally slap him, and it fell suddenly silent in the room.

“You look terrible. Go up and shower, you stink, Erik.” Emma growled, as she walked into the open kitchen, away from him.

Erik knew the insult was supposed to be deeper, but all he could think about was shouting something back.

He wanted to keep fighting, he always wanted to keep fighting, but Emma had had it up to here with him, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

Erik heard the faint pulling of cloth, and he looked down to see that damned dog of Emma’s pulling on one of his pant legs.

“Beat it, you mongrel.” Erik growled, but the dog just looked at him, ears up, head cocked, tail wagging.

“I said, beat it!” Erik snapped, and the little dog went running into the kitchen, tail between its legs.

Erik let his anger fester and broil in him until he came back downstairs, freshly showered and looking better than when he had woken up. He didn’t feel any better though, he hated showering. It was such a menial task now made into a hardship because of his legs. He was just surprised he hadn’t needed help this time around.

The cooks brought out breakfast for both himself and Emma, and they ate in silence.

There was tension in the room, so palpable you could taste it in the air.

“Would you both quit glaring at each other like kids and just talk?” One of the older maids spoke up for them, and Emma frowned. She was disappointed in herself, but infuriated with Erik.

“What do you even want in a caretaker, Erik?”

“Oh, for Christ sake, not this again.”

“No. I’m getting straight to the point, it’s always an issue with you. You pick apart people because it makes you feel good about yourself, that I know. So tell me, since you find fault in everyone, what the hell do you want in a caretaker?”

Erik didn’t respond for a moment. He stared at Emma, before looking down at his plate, actually thinking about this.

“Young, but not a kid. I don’t want them knowing about me, I don’t want some fawn drooling over me or asking me questions. I want someone who just does their damn job and leaves it at that. no pitying me, I don’t want some idiot thinking they can “fix me.” I don’t care, mutant or human, just no bothering me unless I need them.” Erik crossed his arms, and Emma just nodded.

“Anything else, your majesty?” She prodded, and Erik glowered at her.

A long silence rang out between then again, though it was only a few seconds long in actuality.

”I want a man. No sexual shit, no harassment, none of that.” Erik finished, and Emma tilted her head at him.

“What?” Erik snapped, but Emma only shook her head.

“I’ll keep that all in mind for the next recipient, Erik.” She replied, before tossing him the bottle she had.

He caught it, and stared at it for a moment, before throwing it back to her and wheeling out into the parlour.

“They’re out of date.” He said, knowing her jaw would be wide with a refusal of drugs, before he pulled out the bottle he had in his pocket and swallowed down another pill.

The rest of the day went like it always did, Emma had her morning coffee and watched the news, with Erik complaining in the background, before he’d crash for an afternoon nap that he didn’t need.

Emma retreated to the garden that stretched around the back courtyard of the manor. She opened her laptop and started to edit the ad for Erik’s caretaker.

_Looking for a Caretaker for the Disabled_

_Requirements: 25-35 age range, Male, Will require three weeks of unpaid training before your first check._

_A down of a thousand dollars will be offered as compensation if the recipient does not meet standards past the three weeks of training, or upon incident._

Emma sipped her coffee and let out a sigh, before submitting the advert online, and closing her laptop.

“Now, we wait.”


	2. Another Day

“—in other recent news, Sebastian Shaw, the leader of the “X-Tremists,” a radical group of mutant activists, has declared—“

“Turn that shit off, Emma.” Erik snapped, as he wheeled into the dining room.

“Just when it was getting good.” Emma teased, as she changed the channel.

Erik glared in her direction, before he popped a pill into his mouth.

“Can’t believe they still call them activists after what happened—“

“Emma.”

“Look, Erik, you can’t just push it away like it never happened. The world is still turning out there. Things still happen, people still live, just because I try to make conversation doesn’t mean you have to bite my head of—“

“You act like I’m not stuck in a wheelchair! I can’t fucking walk because of him, Emma! I couldn’t give a shit if the news says he just bought an orphanage, or built a hospital— I never want to hear that name again!”

Erik slammed the arm of the wheelchair, before shoving at the dinner table. He then started to leave, just as one of the maids were wheeling out breakfast.

“Where are you going?”

“Bed.” Erik snapped, as he hooked up to the stair climber.

“It’s one in the afternoon and you just got up, you aren’t going back to bed.” Emma scolded, getting up and kindly telling the ladies to continue serving, before she stormed up after Erik, stopping him before he could get unhooked.

“You aren’t crawling back to your room today. I don’t care if Shaw walked right in and joined us for breakfast, you’re going to eat.” Emma said, as Erik leaned away from her, trying to get the chair to unhitch.

“Erik..” She warned, not budging as Erik tried to scoot her out of the way.

There was never a good ending to these fights, but, Erik saw his stalemate and subsided.

“Fine.”

“Good.” Emma cheered up immediately, and it was like a serrated blade cutting through him.

She patted his shoulder, and sent him back down, and they returned to their seats for breakfast.

But just because Erik listened to Emma’s will, that didn’t mean they had a pleasant experience at the table.

Erik chewed on his pills like the medication was candy until one of the maids took his bottle away from him.

“You’re going to ruin the taste of that omelette, sweetie.” She said, as she handed the pills to Emma.

Erik poked at his meal and ate what he could stomach, which wasn’t much, while Emma asked one of the hands for an Irish coffee, strong.

The dining room was filled with dull chatter from the television, and a tension that was sickening to be witness to.

Erik’s slow movement of rubbing one of his legs grew harder and more deliberate, before he broke the silence.

“Emma...”

She knew what that meant.

“Are you going to shower?” She asked, and Erik let out a groan of contempt.

“Yes, fine, I will. Just give me the bottle-“

“Give me the bottle what?”

“Damnit, Emma!” Erik snapped, his grip on his leg was now turning his knuckles white, and Emma let out a sigh.

She got up and unscrewed the top, handing him two pills.

“Two— you can’t be serious, Emma. I need more than that.” Erik tugged against his chair like a toddler having a fit, but Emma didn’t budge.

“Two or none.”

Erik practically snarled at her as he took the two pills, scarfing them down as he moved to the stair climber again, this time without Emma having to stop him.

Erik never understood the overall effects of Emma’s thought process. Yes, she could train him into doing things, like an animal, with the medication, but there was no weening him off of it.

Didn’t she understand what chronic meant?

Once he got to his room, he searched for another bottle, but he resisted the urge to swallow down twenty-some pills. That would just end in more trouble than it was worth.

He took three, and headed for the bathroom, actually taking his time getting in the tub, so that no one would have to come in and help him.

He didn’t stay in the bath for long, unlike others, Erik hadn’t ever been a fan of relaxing during a bath or shower. He just found it vulnerable, and foreboding to say the least.

He dragged himself back into his chair, and towelled off, before rolling back into his room.

He wanted to just crawl into bed and forget this day ever happened, a feeling that came with most days now. But with the yearning thought of taking another handful of medication and crashing, came an immediate rebuttal.

_“Come back downstairs, Erik.”_

It wasn’t his own.

Emma either knew, or she was inside his head, neither of which were what he wanted.

He grumbled and left the longing call of his bedroom to show himself once more downstairs.

“What is it now, Emma?”

“You haven’t been outside in a while, we’re gong to the garden.” Emma replied, as her dog followed happily behind her.

“I don’t want to—“

“You need fresh air, and sunlight, Erik. Now, come on.”

Erik rolled his eyes and grumbled, muttering that there were pills to replace the need to even step outside his room, but that didn’t seem to faze Emma whatsoever.

Emma ruled this house, because she was the only one who could hold a conversation with Erik himself. She mostly was just able to be a bridge between Erik himself, and the maids, but they nor she could do everything.

That was why Erik needed someone personal, someone to keep with him so he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

At least, that’s how Emma would put it if she was asked. 

“How long do I have to stay out here?” Erik asked, reeling at the change in lighting, as Emma sat down at a table in the sun, her dog laying down at her feet.

“Until you look better.” She commented, curling a bit of her hair around her finger as she bathed in the sunlight.

Erik let out a low curse and moved over to a shaded area, glaring at Emma from across the courtyard.

He hated going out here as well. The gardens and trees were still tended to by the help, of course, but there were also tall metal statues, pieces of art, scattered around the expansive piece of land as well. Things Erik created before he was stuck in a chair.

He hated being reminded of what once was.

Erik soon fell asleep under that tree, his chin in his hand, and Emma let out a sigh once she noticed.

Emma wheeled him back inside, and let him sleep for a while longer, before Erik woke up.

He scampered off to his room before anyone could stop him, and he felt exhausted beyond belief.

“Do it all again tomorrow.” He muttered, before taking a handful of pills and laying down to sleep.


	3. Registration Day

  
“—we’ll keep in touch. Thank you for coming in today.” Emma smiled as she shook hands with another potential caretaker, before they left her office. 

It wasn’t really hers anymore, but a friend of hers still let her use it for interviews so Erik wouldn’t be barging in on them himself. Plus, this meant that no one had to drive all the way out to the mansion and increase Erik’s insatiable paranoia. 

It was nice to be back in this space, even if it was only for a short time. Then again, the offers on her ad had really been kicking up recently, when she was almost ready to scrap it and start over. 

It had been almost a month since she remade the advertisement, stating the terms that Erik had wanted, and she had wavering faith that anyone would want the position with the reworked terms. 

Before, there were always immediate responses, even if not all of them were realistic, she was used to a more prominent turn out than what she had gotten. 

But now, she couldn’t be complaining too much, she had two more interviews to hold and she hoped that they would hold a bit more promise than the man who had just walked out of here.

He wasn’t a bad kid, but he definitely wasn’t what she was looking for. He wasn’t ready for a younger wheelchair patient, and in no way did he have the mental fortitude required to handle Erik.

Asking that of anyone was going to be difficult.

Her next interviewee was called into her office, and he seemed a lot like the last kid, though he was taller.

“Hello there, I’m Emma Frost, and you are?” She greeted him as he sat down, and he smiled at her.

“I’m Alex Summers, ma’am.”. 

“Ah, yes, Alex. Alright, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get right to the chase.” 

Alex nodded.

“Good, okay. First question, why do you want this job?”

This question wasn’t exactly important to the evaluation, it was more to gauge their own opinion on her righteous scale of minds. It was, in essence, just a polygraph test to emma.

“Well, ma’am, Mr. Lehnsherr is an icon to all mutants, you know? He helped my family get used to me and my kid brother, we’re both mutants. And I feel so awful about what happened to him and I thought that this would be my chance to sorta.. Pay him back for all he’s done, you know?” Alex rambled with admiration, and Emma gave him a half-smile. 

There wasn’t a lying bone in that body of his, his mind was a bright, glowing yellow mess with his every word. 

Erik didn’t want someone fawning over him.

“Alright, what’s your experience in caretaking, if you have any at all?” She continued the interview, writing down a few things as she went along.

After around a half hour, Alex was finished, and Emma shook his hand and told him that she’d keep in touch with him. And out he went. 

Finally, her last interviewee was called in.

“Hello there, I’m Emma Frost.” Emma smiled, holding out her hand to the man. 

“Pleased to meet you, my name is Armando Muñoz, but please, call me Darwin.” He smiled back, taking her hand in a friendly handshake. 

“Pleased to meet you Darwin, sit down?” Emma gestured, and Darwin nodded before sitting down.

“Now, before we get into the practicalities, would you might telling me why you want this job?” Emma asked, same as before.

“Of course. I will say, first and foremost, that I haven’t been living under a rock my entire life, I presume that many who have applied for this position are mutants who know the Lehnsherr name. The same can be said in my case as well, but I do not intend on having that interfere with the work. I will also say that I’m sure my reasoning isn’t a unique one in your time of interviewing, that we as mutants owe a lot to Mr. Lehnsherr, and that I want to personally help him in any way I can. But I am also interested in taking care of those who are disabled in one form or another, like Mr. Lehnsherr is, and this will only help me in personal experience. And that doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to be a permanent caretaker for Mr. Lehnsherr, because I wholeheartedly am.” Darwin smiled after he finished, his hands clasped together in his lap, and Emma rose a brow at him.

All of that was true, Darwin wasn’t a vain or manipulative person, very honest and responsible. Perhaps his honesty could show Erik something about himself. 

Or, was that too much to ask?

Darwin seemed optimistic, though he thought through things realistically. 

Emma liked the way he processed things, and it seemed as though she had already found her match, but she couldn’t just end the interview here. That wouldn’t be fair at all.

“Alright, you mentioned you want to help the disabled, do you have experience in taking care of a wheelchair bound person?” 

“Not one with permanence, but I have taken care of a few people recovering from other incidents who had to stay wheelchair bound for an extended period of time, I imagine things are similar in many regards.” 

Emma nodded as she jotted a few things down, before asking another question.

“You realise you will be completing three weeks of unpaid training with me if you’re chosen for the job.”

“Yes I do, I think it’s a good way to show anyone who is interested and willing to do this exactly what is to be expected of them.” Darwin nodded diligently, and Emma wrote something else.

“How are you with insults?”

“I’ve been told it all, Ms. Frost. I don’t think much can shake me. Interesting question though.”

“It’s an important one.”

The interview went on with very basic but necessary questions, such as dealing with Erik’s medical needs, to the schedule that Emma was currently sticking with for caretakers. 

Darwin was a good match, and Emma did want Erik to have another caretaker as soon as possible. If she didn’t get any more applicants in the next few days, she’d be picking him. 

The drive back was long, but enjoyable. Emma didn’t realise how much she had missed the heads of others. She was also stuck with the help, and it was tiring to have to always block out erik. 

When she came back, Erik was waiting.

“You were gone.”

“Yes, I was. What, did you miss me?”

“No.” 

Erik followed after her as she went to the dining room, setting her briefcase on the table.

“Did you choose someone then?” Erik asked, and Emma sighed.

“Maybe, still have to look over everything, you know how it is. What’s for dinner? I’m starved.”

“Did you... Are there any women?”

“What?”

Emma rose a brow at Erik, he wasn’t normally like this.

“No, all men, like you asked.” She responded, and Erik only nodded stiffly.

“I think it’s italian.” 

“What?”

“Dinner tonight, i think it’s italian.”


	4. Day One of Too Many

Erik groaned as he started to wake up, but he was rammed into by Emma.

_“Erik, get up.”_

Erik grumbled and muttered angrily back at her, before she got into his head again, this time much louder.

_“Erik. Up. Now.”_

Erik yelled at the splitting pain her voice caused, and he shouted curses at her in response, though it was doubtful she would actually hear them.

His legs were throbbing with pain, and now his skull felt like it had been broken open. 

He moved his chair over to him and struggled to get into it, before wheeling himself over to his closet to get some pills. He had the decency to change into a sweater, but that was because he felt like it was cold in his room. 

Maybe that was another ploy to get him up. 

“What the hell do you wan...” Erik snapped once he saw Emma over the stairwell railing, but he trailed off when he saw another person in his house, on his floor, talking to her.

His blood ran cold, and fear washed over him before it was smothered by anger.

“Good to see you’re finally up! Friendly reminder, don’t let him sleep the day away.” Emma spoke to the man, and Erik was festering.

He made it down the stairs and practically started screaming at Emma.

“Erik, that’s enough.”

Erik grimaced, groaning and clutching his head. 

“You... bitch..” He whispered, as he opened his pill bottle to try and ease his head, before Emma grabbed his arm. 

He looked up at her, struggling again her grasp, as she introduced him.

“Darwin, this is Erik. Erik, meet Darwin, your new caretaker, or.. Yet to be, anyways.” Emma clarified, and Erik furrowed his brows, looking to the man in front of him.

“You didn’t tell me— you should’ve mentioned... I..” Erik stuttered, before he forcibly jerked his arm out of her grasp and desperately swallowed down his medication.

He didn’t want this today, he was exhausted and in pain, not that that differed from any other day, but normally dealing with a new caretaker meant a lot of overzealous tasks that were meaningless to Erik. 

Today just wasn’t the day for that. 

“Hello Erik, I’m pleased to meet you.” Darwin said, holding his hand out to Erik. 

Erik only snarled and wheeled around him to the dining room, with Emma hot on him.

“Erik—“

“Fuck off, Emma.” Erik snapped angrily, as he tried to distance himself from them, but to little avail. 

“I’m sorry, he’s—“ Emma started but Darwin shook his head.

“Don’t apologise, let him be. I need to get used to him after all.” Darwin said with certainty, and Emma was a bit taken aback by that attitude. 

“Erik, I’m sorry you weren’t expecting me, but-“

“Don’t pander to me like a child. You’ve said your adieus, go meet the help or something.”

“I’ve already been aquatinted to them.”

“Then go away, leave me alone.” Erik growled with his head in his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut tight at the sound of Emma’s heels against the hardwood floor. 

“We’re not ‘going away,’ Erik. We’re going to go through a whole day with you, alright?” 

Erik squirmed as much as he could, and a pain shot up his side. He let out a quiet gasp, and Emma rolled her eyes.

“What now?”

“N-nothing. Let’s just get this over with.” Erik muttered, throwing his head towards the other side of the table, hoping that they’d sit and eat before anything else.

He carefully placed his hand on his side, before he shook out another three pills. 

New pain scared him, so he took more to combat that. 

He didn’t know what new pain meant. Too much drugs? Poor sleeping posture? Poor sitting posture? Was he sick? Dying?

He had been dying for years, that shouldn’t scare him.

Well, normally with new caretakers, they all get to meet Erik’s personal physician sooner or later, so if it persisted, Erik could subtly mention it to him.

He hoped it wouldn’t persist, even if that promised more medication or even something stronger, it also came with the risk of being watched more. He barely had privacy now, he could handle a little more pain if it meant keeping people away from him.

They awaited their breakfast in silence, before a spread dish was brought out to the table, and Erik immediately gripped onto it, dragging it to his side of the table.

It was difficult for anyone who knew him before to watch him use his abilities now, Erik’s hands would shake, his body would shudder from overuse, and he’d tire from doing as much as opening and closing doors all day. 

But he got what he wanted, a jar of peanut butter.

He unscrewed the cap and took a large spoonful of it.

“Ruining breakfast, are we?” Emma commented as they got their plates.

Erik glanced up at her with the spoon in his mouth, before taking it out and crunching on a piece of toast, in defiance.

He wasn’t going to eat more than the toast though, just thinking about eggs would make him sick.

But, he had eaten half the jar of peanut butter before Darwin spoke up.

“So, Erik,” Erik glanced up, glaring at him.  
“I was wondering, there’s a piano over there. Do you play?”

“No.” Erik snapped, taking the jar of peanut butter and started to wheel away from the table.

“Erik, we’re not done yet.” Emma warned, but Erik only rolled his eyes. 

He waited in the living room though, he didn’t want Emma to hurt him again. Maybe she didn’t think it hurt, but it always did.

He chewed down pills and ate a little more peanut butter, before he heard the click of Emma’s heels coming.

“Pills.” 

“What?”

“You heard me, hand them over.”

“Why?”

“Because, I said so. You’ve taken too many already this morning, you’ll get the back at three.” Emma told him, and Erik shook. 

It was only 12:47, 3:00 was hours away.

She held out her hand, and he reluctantly gave the bottle up.

“You’ll have to watch his consumption, he can’t exceed ten in an hour, five to six through three hours is good for him.” Emma explained to darwin, before Erik snapped at them both.

“How should you know what’s good for me? You can’t feel my pain.” He growled, and Emma rolled her eyes. 

“No, but I have physician papers. Come on, let’s go to the garden.”

“No.” 

“Erik.”

“I said no.”

“Quit acting like a child.” 

“I’d like to see your gardens.” Darwin said pleasantly, obviously trying to diffuse the escalating situation.

“Nobody cares about what you want!” Erik screamed, his chest rising and falling harshly, as he gripped onto the arm of his chair.

Darwin blinked, before coming over to Erik, who instinctively rolled back a bit.

“Look, Erik. I know you’re not used to new people nosing in your business. You believe that they should come here fully prepared, which is valiant. I wish I came here fully prepared so we wouldn’t have to fight through the basics, but that’s just not possible. So, I ask you, please. Bare with me just for a little bit.”

Emma was stunned, that was amazing. How could he keep so composed after Erik screamed at him?

“I don’t care what you do. Stay away from me.” Erik combated, and Emma sighed. 

“He is your caretaker, he can’t stay away from you, Erik.”

“No one says he’s my caretaker until I say so.” Erik reminded her, before Emma padded over and grabbed the handles of his chair.

Erik shook, his back pressed deep into the cushioning and his hands gripped at his legs. 

He hated people behind him.

“We’re going out.” Emma said, and Erik tried to argue more, but she wasn’t having it. 

Emma ignored Erik’s bitching and kindly showed Darwin around the gardens, with her dog following close behind the group. 

Darwin didn’t object to Emma wheeling Erik around, since the breeze and sunlight would do him some good, and really, it wasn’t his place to anyways. 

But when Darwin asked about the statues, Erik coward, sinking into his chair and kept his eyes to the ground.

“They were just a part of the property. Beautiful though, aren’t they?” Emma lied, and Erik blinked as they went on. 

Once the whole tour was over with, it was three, and Erik was exhausted. He was uncomfortable in the chair and his back was starting to ache because of it, not to mention his legs were on fire. 

Emma had given him back his pills when her and darwin were talking, he scarfed down five before Emma took the bottle back. 

He struggled to get back into a normal sitting position, and wheeled himself back inside, but the other two weren’t that far behind. 

“Erik tries to spend most of his day sleeping, I try to deter that but it doesn’t always work.” Emma told darwin, as Erik hooked himself to the stair climber. 

“You’ll probably have to deal with afternoon naps, which translates to ‘Erik gets up, eats a little, and goes back to bed.’ just make sure he gets some sun at least once a week.”

Emma let Erik sleep some, as she discussed more with Darwin about how things ran around here.

“He’s not going to be used to you even being in this house for a while, that’s sort of what this first week is for. You learn his schedule and he’ll learn yours. You should expect more outbursts like earlier though, he’s going to try to scare you away. But I don’t think you’ll break so easily, I think you’re already doing good with him.”

“Thank you, Emma. It means a lot, and I hope to get him to trust me quite soon.” Darwin replied, and Emma smiled.

Erik got up at seven, again by Emma’s will and not his own. He was still cold, and his head still hurt and it was too bright outside of his room.

Erik stayed in the living room and dozed quietly while dinner was being prepared. Of course, Emma and Darwin has the chance to have lunch if they wanted, but Erik had been asleep. 

He jumped at Darwin waking him up, snapping at him as he wheeled around him to the dining room.

And yet, Darwin didn’t seem upset by it at all, in fact, he didn’t seem to even be affected by Erik’s attacks whatsoever.

Not to worry, he’d break eventually, they always did.

Erik was falling asleep at the table, for some reason he was more tired than usual. God, another thing that pointed to needing intervention. 

He poked at his dinner, a phenomenal marinaded steak with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and rolls, but he barely ate.

Emma and Darwin where just chattering away, it was making Erik’s head pound. He started trying to wheel away when Darwin targeted him.

“Erik, it feels like we haven’t spoken all day. Tell me a little about yourself.”

Oh, if those steak knives weren’t so heavy.

“You want to know about me?” Erik feigned, and darwin nodded innocently.

“My name is Erik Lehnsherr. I’m stuck in a wheelchair and I’m in continuous chronic pain. Now leave me alone.” Erik snapped and struggled against his chair before wheeling towards the stairs.

“Try to get up early tomorrow.” Emma chimed, and Erik stopped.

“Why?”

“Why? Darwin’s here for three weeks, Erik. Can’t waste days like this.” 

“Th....three?”

“We’ve discussed this, Erik. Now, go to bed, and get up early tomorrow.” Emma spoke like she was talking to her child rather than a grown man.

Erik hurried to get up to his room.

He dry heaved for a few minutes, before swallowing down his nightly medication, and tossing himself onto his bed. 

He curled up amongst the covers as best as he could, groaning in pain as his joints protested to such affronted movement. 

He fell asleep quick, but woke up multiple times during the night.

Once it was light out, he felt terrible. 

_“Erik, get up.”_


	5. Doctor’s Orders

Today was Doctor Day, and like any full grown adult would, Erik was obviously causing a scene about not being told about this until today.

“You could’ve told me, Emma!” Erik snapped, but Emma wasn’t having it.

“It’s not my job to tell you about this, it’s your caretaker’s-“

“And he didn’t tell me anything—“

“Actually I mentioned it to you multiple times last week, Erik.” Darwin chimed in, ever the optimist, as he placed two pills on Erik’s empty plate, giving him a smile before Emma called him over for something.

Erik still hadn’t gotten any more comfortable in the presence of Darwin, and not much emotional progress had been reached either between the two.

While Darwin was doing his job extremely well, Erik was adamant to make it as difficult for him as possible, still making certain things completely off-limits for Darwin to even consider doing, and just generally having a distant relationship with his caretaker.

Which was the complete opposite affect that Emma had been hoping for.

Erik glared at darwin as he turned his back to him, and gulped down the pills he had been given immediately.

Emma tried this ploy a lot with new caretakers, or at least the ones that would be able to stick around as long as Darwin had. She would try to wean Erik off of his blatant misuse of pain relief, or at least get him on a “reasonable medication schedule.”

But today, Erik knew better, this was a poor attempt at trying to put up the facade that Erik was functioning better than he actually was, because his personal doctor was going to be visiting.

It wasn’t healthy to lie about his mental health to his own personal physician, but Erik also didn’t care enough to have that be a problem. He’d always put on a smile and act pretty well-mannered, which always left Hank, unbeknownst to Erik himself, questioning why Emma complained so often about Erik’s mental state.

One of his worst excuses in his low points was his refusal for other types of medication, especially antidepressants.

_“I’m not numb, Emma! I’m in horrendous pain all the time! Don’t you think that’s why I’m not happy?!”_

Of course, one could say those were the very clear words of an addict, and yet Emma refused to believe that that was the answer. Though, there was no doubt that Erik was addicted to his pain medication, but Emma had hoped that there would be something out there that could made Erik see that there was more than himself and his own pain and misery.

And more recently, Emma’s faith was beginning to wane.

They waited to all have breakfast together, which was the normality for when Dr. McCoy would show up to the mansion. And Erik made sure to fill up on pills beforehand, on hopes the high would get him through this.

Erik smiled when Hank set himself down at the table, and Emma introduced him to Darwin, as Erik started to eat immediately once the unappealing omelet was placed in front of him.

“Well, someone’s got an appetite this morning.” The older maid serving laughed heartily, and everyone started conversing pleasantly, save for Erik of course.

“So Erik, how are you taking to your new caretaker? Emma says that he’s stayed far longer than many of your other applicants.” Dr. McCoy asked Erik, but he didn’t respond.

“Erik?” Emma tried getting Erik’s attention, but when that didn’t work, and she was ready to barge into his head to get him to pay attention, Darwin simply placed a hand on Erik’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me—“ Erik snapped, blinking out of his listless eating, and jerking away from darwin, before he noticed the reactions of Emma and Hank from across the table.

“I mean... you startled me, Darwin. Now, what was it that you said?” Erik forced out, gripping his leg under the table as he turned his attention to Emma and Hank.

Emma closed her eyes with a sigh, while Hank cleared his throat to reiterate the question.

“I... asked how you were doing with Darwin?”

“Oh, he’s just marvellous, great at his job.” Erik lied through his teeth, as he forced a smile at Hank, who only nodded.

Shortly after that, Erik asked to be excused, he said he wanted to shower before they got underway with the examinations.

“He said he was happy with you.”

Erik stopped, and listened on the upper stairwell.

“Hank, he hasn’t ever complimented Darwin since he started working here. That snap of his is how he is around him.” Emma said with a sigh, before apologising to Darwin, who only shook his head.

“There’s no need to apologise, Emma. I know he doesn’t like me.”

“But you are doing a marvellous job here, I just wish Erik would see that.”

“Do you know why he doesn’t like you?” Hank asked, and he raised a hand to Emma, stopping her from interrupting.

“I actually don’t, I’ve been extremely respectful of all of his rules, and choices, and decisions. I’ve never gotten angry with him, and I don’t think I ever will. I understand that he’s in pain, and he sees everything dimmer than we do because of it.” Darwin said, and Erik wheeled to his room after that.

He felt choked, and quickly wheeled to the bathroom and barely reached the toilet before vomiting up his breakfast.

Erik shook, and pulled himself back into his chair, looking at himself in the mirror beside the sink.

He washed his face. He washed his mouth out and swashed some barely touched mouthwash around to make sure the bile wouldn’t be smelled. He then wetted his hair in the sink to make it look like he actually showered.

He wanted to crawl into bed, he wanted to shut out the world, he didn’t want to go back downstairs.

Erik changed into a robe, and took a handful of pills before wheeling back down to the others.

Erik and Hank took to a side room, in private, like they always did. The basic procedures were easy, fast, very motorised for both of them.

That was, until, Hank broke the silence.

“Erik.. you’ve been losing weight.”

“What? No, I haven’t—“

“I can see the outline of your ribs, Erik.”

Erik’s hands went to his sides, which made him lose his balance on the table he was seated on.

Hank caught his arm, giving Erik enough time to steady himself before jerking out of his grasp.

“I... It wasn’t like this before, right?” Erik questioned softly, and Hank shook his head.

“I think I might write up a diet plan for you, how many times do you eat a day?” Hank asked calmly, and Erik bit his tongue.

“Three, like anybody else.”

“Is that three meals a day? Or three times you’ve eaten something in a day?”

“Three... Three meals, of course.” Erik snapped defensively, while Hank only nodded and wrote something down on his notepad.

“Okay, I’ll see what your kitchen does for you and see if they’ll be fine with following something from me for a little while, just to see if you improve with it. Does that sound okay, Erik?”

“Don’t patronise me, McCoy.” Erik growled, as he pulled back on his robe, and slowly scooted off the table and into his chair.

He steadied himself and huffed at McCoy, who only smiled at him softly before starting to write again.

“Can I go?”

“Yes, Erik. Thank you.”

Erik huffed again and slowly wheeled out of the room, immediately heading back upstairs.

“I wouldn’t go after him, just let him unwind a little, Emma.” Hank said as he stepped out of the room himself, seeing Emma starting up the stairs after Erik.

“Anything... different?” She asked, slowly coming down again and crossing her arms.

“Has he been eating regularly?”

Emma frowned and shook her head.

“It’s hard to even get him to finish breakfast, today was an obvious exception. And after that he goes off to sleep the rest of the day away. He sometimes gets up later to get something but I’ve been picking up on it less and less.”

Hank only nodded before Emma asked.

“Is it... bad?”

“I mean I could see his ribs, Emma. I’m hoping to try to get him onto a building diet to see if it helps. Do you know if there’s anything I can like.. coax him out with, I suppose is the right term?” Hank asked, and Emma perked up a little.

“Peanut butter, anything peanut butter.”

“That’s a good thing to start with, I’ll go speak with the kitchen staff and get something going. I can be back within the week with this, okay?”

“Thank you, Hank. I don’t know where he’d be without you.”


	6. This Never Worked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings,, might change the rating to mature for this one  
> mentions of self-harm, and implied fear of rape  
> reader's discretion is advised.

_Erik groaned as he tossed and turned in his bed, getting increasingly uncomfortable with the incoming sunlight that was making him lose what little sleep he had gained throughout the night. He was tangled in his sheets and his eyes were starting to ache from the light and his tiredness wearing off._

_Then, when he was almost fed up with trying to stay asleep, something made him freeze. His breath ran still and his eyes shot open as he heard his door open._

_“Hey, Erik. It’s time to get up-“_

_Darwin’s friendly voice came from the direction of Erik’s doorway, but he was cut off by Erik snapping at him._

_“Get the hell out of my room.”_

_“I’ll give you ten minutes but after that I’d better hear the shower running, alright?” Darwin was too unfazed by Erik’s warnings, and that was going to be a problem.  
Ten minutes passed, and Erik was slowly falling back asleep, just on the threshold of his eyelids getting heavy, when his door was opened again. _

_“Alright, Erik. Get up now, let’s get you cleaned up, hm? I’m sure that’ll make you feel better.” Darwin coaxed, as Erik turned away from him, wincing as his jerk twisted his spine and pain shot up and down his back to his legs._

_Erik let out a gasp, suddenly out of breath from the sheer shock of the pain, and he tried to reach towards his nightstand drawer, where pills resided, but he felt his covers be peeled away from him instead._

_Darwin then did the last thing Erik would ever want anyone to do, or next to last thing anyways._

_He started to pick him up, which wasn’t as difficult as you might expect, though Erik tried to thrash and hit Darwin, to get him to leave him in bed and get away from him, Erik couldn’t._

_His pain only flared more with being lifted up and manhandled, but when he was placed in the bathroom, sat down on the edge of the bathtub, Erik actually began to panic._

_“Now, I can at least get you started,“ Darwin said, turning on the water and reaching to take off Erik’s shirt for him, when Erik pushed him away, which made him fall back into the bathtub._

_Erik let out a sharp cry, as his lower back hit the tub hard, but the pain wasn’t anything compared to his panic at how he was now situated.  
Erik scrambled against the tub, slowly filling with water, as Darwin tried to calm him down,_

_“Erik, Erik, its okay! Its okay, I’m just trying to help you-“_

_“Get away from me!!” Erik cried, tears welling in his eyes from the pain alone, and he again tried to move more, but it was hopeless, he was in too much pain._

_Erik was sprawled out, half of him in a half-filled bathtub, with his legs spread in front of Darwin, as he cried and yelled for the man to get away from him._

_Darwin got the hint that this was too much, and backed off from Erik, but he was still crying._

_“J-Just stay away from m-me!!” Erik cried, trying again to scoot back more in the tub, but all he was doing was slashing through the water._

_Finally, Emma came into Erik’s room, as she had felt his distress from down in the living room. She went towards the bathroom and yelled at Darwin to get out, which he did immediately, before trying to calm Erik down herself._

_“Erik, Erik, open your eyes. It’s just me, it’s just Emma.” She spoke slowly, but she made no move towards him, not yet._

_It took a long time for Emma to succeed in even calming Erik down enough for him to consider getting out of the tub, but finally, she got him out._

_But Erik wasn’t going to leave the bathroom for a number of hours._

_On the third hour, Emma made Erik promise he would leave the bathroom if Darwin left and stayed down on the first floor, Erik agreed._

_But in the time it took Emma to physically leave to tell Darwin that, who was waiting in the hallway outside of Erik’s room, Erik had gotten to his razor in the bathroom cabinet, and the blade touched to his skin without him having to hold it.  
It gave him such a pounding headache to just feel the piece of metal, it only worsened as he dragged it across his arm, left, right, left, right- _

_It was terribly fast, so fast that the burning only started to register after he finally stopped, when he heard Emma coming back._

_Erik passed out from overuse of his meager abilities, along with the pounding headache he had obtained from the act alone._

_Emma yelled when she saw blood._

“After that, you know the rest… Emma called you, you got here, etcetera…” Erik trailed off at the dining room table, where Hank sat beside him, Emma was standing still, her puny white dog in her arms.

She glared at Erik as he started to scratch at his now bandaged arm.

“Don’t look at me like that, none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for that ass of a caretaker!” Erik snapped, and Hank quickly placed a hand on his shoulder. Erik stilled, but jerked out of his grasp.  
“Quit scratching, Erik. You’re just going to make it worse.” Emma quipped, but Hank gestured for her to just leave the room, perhaps go talk things over with Darwin.  
“Fine.” She glared at Erik as she walked out of the dining room.  
“Erik, thank you for telling us what happened.” Hank spoke once Emma left the room, but Erik only rolled his eyes.

“Try to eat a little for me, will you?” Hank then asked after a pause, before he got up as well.  
“Oh yeah, go tend to the telepath...” Erik grumbled, as he picked up his peanut butter sandwich and took a bite.

“Thank you again for showing up so fast…” Emma said to Hank, sitting on the sofa with her dog on her lap.  
“Like I said, I was already on my way over for Erik’s dietary plans, just good coincidence.” Hank replied, before going to the subject he knew Emma was avoiding.  
“I know you may not believe it to be my place to say this Darwin, but I do not think you can stay employed here. You have proven to do more harm than good to Erik, and as his personal physician, I cannot have you putting my patient at risk.” Hank sounded serious, and he was. He knew it was important for Erik to have a caretaker, Hank approved of the idea greatly, but it was obvious that Darwin’s time had expired.

“I’m… sorry, Darwin, but he’s… right.” Emma sounded defeated; she had held such high hopes that Darwin would work out.  
“No, no I knew this was coming, and I agree. I don’t want to be the cause of another meltdown like today. That would completely unfair to Erik if I were to stay, and he is the highest priority. I’ll leave tonight, permanently.” Darwin said, and Emma let out a breath.

_‘He’s even dignified when he’s being fired.’_

Emma saw Darwin off that night, and Hank insisted that he stay for the rest of the week to monitor Erik in person, though he also offered to take some of the pressure off of Emma.

Emma was relieved to hear that, even if she didn’t say it.  
Hank was good with Erik, for some reason Erik didn’t hate him as much as everyone else, though part of that had to have been earned, as Hank was the only in-house doctor Erik had ever had. He was an early-on find after the incident and Emma stuck with him ever since.

Hank made sure to go over Erik’s restructured meal plans with Emma and the staff, and Emma found herself begrudgingly reenlisting the wanted ad for another caretaker.

“When am I going to get it right for you, Erik?” The tired woman muttered into her coffee, as she hit submit.

_“Ring, ring!”_

“Will someone get that?!” Erik yelled from inside, and the door rang again.

_“Ring, ring!”_

“Hellooo?!! The door? Not my best friend, you know!!” Erik yelled again, and Emma sighed, getting up and coming inside from the garden, smacking at Erik as she went past to get to the door.

Emma unlocked and opened the door, soon letting the person inside, by being shoved past.  
“WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!?”

“Excuse me, just who do you think you-“ Emma started, following the stranger into the dining room, where Erik was trying to eat, but she was cut off by one word.

“Raven?”


	7. Old Friends Are Bad Acquaintances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for this one taking so long, thank you all for the patience and support on this work. it means so much to me that it’s as liked as it is.  
> happy new year everyone!!

“Raven?”

Erik’s blood ran cold as he easily recognised the shrill anger and dirty blonde hair of his estranged sister.

And he immediately started for the stairs, as though those would stop her.

Raven stormed across the dining room, haphazardly grabbing at the wheels of Erik’s chair in order to stop him, leaning down right in his face. 

“What the fuck is the matter with you—“ Raven yelled, causing Erik to wince and jerk away from her as best he could in his chair, before Emma grabbed raven by the arm and jerked her off of Erik.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Emma sounded angry, but Raven only twisted out of her grasp and gestured at her furiously.

“This is who you got to take care of you!? The bitch reporter that you were probably fucking while she was working for you!?” Raven shouted angrily, before another voice interrupted the commotion.

“What’s going on?” 

It was Hank who asked the question, hurrying down the stairs and stepping to Erik’s side, who immediately rolled behind him once Hank reached the ground floor. 

“Oh!! No, I got it wrong, did I? You probably had both of these sluts, didn’t you? You’d choose that bitch reporter and some twink boy-toy over your own sister?” Raven was more than furious, and both Hank and Emma were utterly confused about what all was happening.

“I told you that I lived here, Raven— it’s not my fault that you waited almost three goddamn years in order to show up-“ Erik snapped back at her, his voice cracking at the end, before he coward behind hank even more. 

“You could have told me that you were alive after what happened! But no, once again, Erik Lehnsherr cut himself off from the world because he’s better than anyone else— you couldn’t have left me a message telling me that you were still breathing?! Not a text? Hell, you could’ve sent me a damn letter and it would’ve been better than being in the dark—“

Raven was angrily shifting now, her pale skin moving like it was alive, and strips of deep blue shown through instead—

That’s when Emma shut her down.

“That’s enough.” Emma ordered, and Raven went dull-eyed. 

“What... did you do?” Erik asked, peeking out from behind Hank, eyeing the now-frozen form of his sister. 

“Just made her quit, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to be angry once she’s out of it.” Emma responded, and it was obvious that she too was irritated at the woman she had basically froze. 

The four moved to the living room, and Erik was told that he had a lot of explaining to do. 

Erik started explaining, leaving it rather short and to the point. 

“Raven’s my sister. We’ve been distant for a long time. But she’s obviously kept up with me in other ways...” 

“Like how she knows you and Emma worked together?” Hank asked, and Emma tossed a hand at him. 

“It wasn’t like my name wasn’t on every by-line, Hank. If she was keeping up with Erik, her own brother, I’d imagine she’d get the pattern pretty quickly. And rumours are vicious in the world of media.” She explained, while Erik fell silent. 

“But that doesn’t... I mean why is she so upset... now?” 

“That I can’t put together, yet. Erik?” 

“Erik?”

“What?” Erik blinked, sinking lower in his chair and avoiding the questioning gazes of his colleagues, his friends. 

“Why is she so angry now?”

“Well, she did say he hadn’t contacted her in three years after the—“

“—don’t. Don’t give her the benefit here, I’ve reached out to her before to offer her a home here and she refused. She wanted nothing to do with me. And I had told her that if she ever changed her mind, that she was welcome to come back here at any time. She never took my offer.”

“But she’s here now.” Hank countered gently, which only made Erik snap.

“And there’s no good will left— let her be angry, it’s not my fault. I don’t want her here if that’s how she’s going to act.” Erik spoke, his voice cracking again as he angrily gestures to the doors. 

And then, Emma let Raven go.

“What the hell does “good will” even mean, Erik!?” Raven suddenly snapped to life, completely startling the entire group. 

“You never understood that I didn’t want to be another facet in your grandness! All you were doing was offering me pity— because you were wildly successful and had money, so fucking what! It never made you a better person, clearly!”

Erik didn’t say anything, he just tried to wheel backwards, he wanted to just have her go away. 

“Do you even know what he did for a living?” Emma detested, getting just as frustrated as Erik was at this point. 

“Erik was the best, and one of the only mutant law representatives. That’s “wildly” important to many, many people, including everyone in this room—“

“—you’re a—“ Hank started, but was abruptly cut off.

“Maybe, but “was” doesn’t get you very far anymore. He isn’t anything but a pathetic lump in a chair now.”

And then, out from under the sofa that Emma was sitting on, came one of her dogs, yipping at Raven. 

“Oh, you must’ve fucked good in order for him to let you keep a dog too. Who does it belong to? The slut or glasses, hm, Erik?” Raven snapped, stamping dangerously close to the still barking dog. 

“C’mere rat—“ Erik quickly clicked his tongue, and the yippy thing ran over to him, jumping on his lap when he patted his leg for it. 

Emma was a bit surprised as Erik held the dog close to his chest, which was wagging its tail and loving the attention it was getting from him. The other dog wouldn’t have come to his call either, this one liked Erik.

But, that said a million things in and of itself about Raven. 

Emma had had enough.

“Look. From what I’ve heard from both of you, you have a lot to work out—“

“Oh—“

“Quiet. I’m talking. It seems to me, however, that Erik would rather have you leave here if all you’re going to do is yell and berate everyone here. My vote goes with throwing you out and wiping your memory of this place entirely. But, you are still Erik’s family. And it is more than obvious that he has extended a hand to you multiple times. I propose that you resolve your issues with one another, or just keep your mouth shut, and you may stay here.” 

Erik nodded slightly at what Emma had said, and looked to raven. 

“I’ll admit that I probably should’ve said something, but you never wanted anything to do with me, Raven. I assumed that distance meant you were fine on your own.”

“Right, sure.”

“Raven...”

“Fine, I’ll shut up about it, but I still think you screwed both of them.” Raven pointed at both Hank and Emma, before she headed upstairs. 

“Is she just going to make herself at home? What the hell was that?” Hank questioned, positively flabbergasted.

“It’s how she is...” Erik said, as he placed the dog down on the floor, and rolled into the other room. 

Emma and Hank spoke shortly about Raven, and had acknowledged that she wasn’t going to let her out of her sight, visible or otherwise. Hank agreed with her sentiment, but also thought that it was a bit funny that she thought he was Erik’s boy-toy, he didn’t strike him as ever wanting a relationship, with either gender.

Once Emma decided that coffee and some fresh air was her next move, with Hank joining her after checking on Erik again, Erik wheeled back out into the living room, an almost empty jar of peanut butter in hand.

He chewed on a few pills as he spooned out the last of the peanut butter, before the dog from before came out from under the sofa, and laid down by Erik’s chair.

Erik noticed the dog, and the dog looked up at Erik. 

“Fine, don’t get your head stuck in it... rat.” He muttered, as he dropped the almost empty jar on the floor, where the little dog took to it immediately.

Once the dog was done, and Erik was sure that no one was going to come back inside, he patted his legs again and the little dog happily jumped up onto his lap to settle down.

The two napped for a short while, before Erik woke up.

“Hey...”

Raven was there on the sofa.

“How long have you—“

“I just walked down here, don’t worry.”

Erik let out a huff in response, before he nodded at his sister. 

“You changed your... hair?” Erik asked, noticing that now there was a long highlight of cherry red in that dirty blonde mop of hers. 

“Yeah, why not. I just opened up a new chapter in my life, debating on calling it, “How I Met My Brother’s Lovers—“”

“Raven—“


End file.
